Success in the NFL Draft can make or break a NFL team, and no draft class was less productive in 2013 than the Dolphins.

An analysis by The Palm Beach Post shows that the Dolphins draft picks combined for just 866 snaps this year. They were the only team in the NFL that didn’t get more than 1,000 snaps from their rookies. Buffalo linebacker Kiko Alonso himself — a second round pick — was in on every one of Buffalo’s 1,177 defensive snaps.

NFL draft classes averaged 2,112 snaps this year. Check out Wednesday’s Palm Beach Post for an article breaking down Miami’s rookie class. Dion Jordan explains why his offseason shoulder surgery limited him to only 338 snaps despite the Dolphins trading up to the No. 3 overall pick to select him. He said he knew his snaps would be limited coming into the season.

Second-round pick CB Jamar Taylor had his own offseason surgery. But after recovering from the hernia surgery he later dealt with hamstring issues.

The Jets got the most out of their rookie class with 3,810 snaps, and they did it with two less draft picks than the Dolphins. That’s what happens when your 1st round picks Dee Milliner (747 snaps) and Sheldon Richardson (906), 2nd round pick Geno Smith (1,007), 3rd round pick Brian Winters (771) and 7th round pick Tommy Bohanon (379) all contribute as rookies.

The Dolphins spent the most money of any team in free agency but failed to make the playoffs. Linebackers Philip Wheeler and Dannell Ellerbe were especially disappointing. A couple of stud rookies might have made a difference this season. Miami again has the 7th-most cap room with about $28 million to spend, so it will be interesting to see if the Dolphins spend big again or try to build a draft class that can have a more immediate impact.

Here are the NFL rookies with the most snaps this year. The list is, not surprisingly, dominated by offensive linemen. But it comes in a year when Miami really could have used help on the line. When the Dolphins traded up for the 3rd overall pick, it was assumed they’d draft LT/RT Lane Johnson. But they picked Jordan, and Johnson ended up with the fifth most snaps.

Left tackle David Bakhtiari, a fourth-round draft choice by Green Bay, ended up with the third most snaps of any rookie.

By comparison, here’s a list of the Dolphins rookies.

And here’s the complete list. While some of the lowest ranked teams on this list (Denver, Kansas City, Seattle) had a lot of success this year, they didn’t necessarily have as many areas of need this year like Miami. The Dolphins really could have used a rookie tackle this season. While undrafted rookie Sam Brenner saw playing time at left guard, it also came at the expense of Dallas Thomas, a third-round pick who couldn’t get on the field.

And when there were depth issues at cornerback because of injuries, neither of Miami’s second and third round rookie cornerbacks were able to be the answer.

*Note: Special-team snaps weren’t factored in and this only looked at draft picks, not undrafted rookies. Also it doesn’t look at players who were drafted and then cut and picked up on waivers. For example, defensive tackle Chris Jones was drafted by Houston in the 6th round and then cut. He was claimed off waivers by New England and ended up with 792 snaps, but he counts as a zero for Houston, not 792 for New England.

Miami must have a Super Bowl quality team to have so few draft picks get game day snaps.

One thing that I will say is that some of the draft picks were made for a 1 year learning curve as Ireland didn't plan on resigning both Grimes and Patterson after the season. The rookie cornerbacks could not stay healthy and when they got on the field did not show a lot of growth. In other words, they are not ready to start ... unless they take a huge leap in development before Game 1.

DE/OLB Dion Jordan was used very little. Our 6'4" 265# TE Dion Sims did not block as advertised and was a disappointment. OG/OT Dallas Thomas played a total of two snaps even though the Dolphins had serious blocking issues. You would think that they'd find a way to get him more snaps during the games. OLB Jelani Jenkins did not get a lot of snaps, but played better than Phillip Wheeler. That is interesting in itself.

Either the Dolphins coaches were not impressed with Ireland's draft picks or they were poorly chosen.

Here's PFF analysis on our first 4 round selections from last year's draft:

That don't work in the case of KC...They were what 2-14 last year...And got better without anything from their draft picks.

Don't discount FA & the trade for Smith which I think cost them their 2nd Rd. pick.

Outside 1st Rd pick Eric Fisher who accounts for the most of their snaps, they had viable players in front of their high picks. Fasano was in front of 3rd Rd pick Travis Kelce. Charles was in front of 3rd Rd. pick Kniles Davis. 4th Rd. pick Nico Johnson fell in behind FA signing Akeem Jordan.

That don't work in the case of KC...They were what 2-14 last year...And got better without anything from their draft picks.

Don't discount FA & the trade for Smith which I think cost them their 2nd Rd. pick.

Outside 1st Rd pick Eric Fisher who accounts for the most of their snaps, they had viable players in front of their high picks. Fasano was in front of 3rd Rd pick Travis Kelce. Charles was in front of 3rd Rd. pick Kniles Davis. 4th Rd. pick Nico Johnson fell in behind FA signing Akeem Jordan.

So it appears they drafted more for the future & backups for 2013.

Seriously...You are making excuses for KC`s draft and not the Dolphins?....We had draft picks behind good players like the great Fasano too. One was a kicker.....

And Fisher sucked.

They got better because they got a qb and coach

Last edited by Kev1321 on Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Seriously...You are making excuses for KC`s draft and not the Dolphins?....We had draft picks behind good players like the great Fasano too. One was a kicker.....

And Fisher sucked.

They got better because they got a qb and coach

Nope, just laid out the facts for you.

KC solidly made the playoffs with weeks left to play . Miami is did not. Huge, huge difference. Apparently the players they had in front produced. Outside injury to Charles 3rd Rd pick Davis's snaps would be limited. With just one top pick in the upper Rds their top pick played all yr. Miami's did not.

It does not matter if Fisher sucked. He played & played well enough that they could win with him playing there.

Yes, they got better because of their Qb ( 2nd Rd pick cost ) which I suggested not to discount when evaluating why they got better. Of course the coach was a given.

They were 2-14 last year and got nothing special from it`s draft class...We had injuries we had a 1st rounder playing behind two guys with 10 sacks each and olso had preseason injuries..One was a kicker who didn't convienetly fit into this stories protocall... On and on the excuses can go.

Funny how your willing to except those excuses for another teams draft class...Kelce played behind Fasano. Talk about mediocre.

For the most part bad teams get their rookies on the field more than the more competitive veteran teams. The only guy that should have been out there alot more is Jordan, and it would have been nice to get some contribution from Thomas.

Huge difference that they were far better this yr. & a playoff team where Miami was not. Miami's rookies should have had an easier time getting playing time since they are not a quality team as KC was this yr.

Since KC only got play from their 1st Rd. pick means they had under achieving talent already on the team & made very smart FA/trade decision. They put 7 players in the PB this yr & everyone of them was on the 2-14 team.

Kev1321 wrote:

They were 2-14 last year and got nothing special from it`s draft class...We had injuries we had a 1st rounder playing behind two guys with 10 sacks each and olso had preseason injuries..One was a kicker who didn't convienetly fit into this stories protocall... On and on the excuses can go.

Then Ireland misjudged the talent he had & should not have spent two picks on a non playing Jordan. Jordan may turn into a stud, but drafting projects generally done on better teams. Drafting players with injuries worked against this class. It would have been better had Miami IRed Taylor & Davis instead of carrying them & not playing them. The fact they brought in a PS player from another team & he played over these two really makes things look bad.

How many snap do you think Sturgis got in on? Add that to the total. See how it changes it.

Kev1321 wrote:

Funny how your willing to except those excuses for another teams draft class...Kelce played behind Fasano. Talk about mediocre.

I was wrong. Kelce the 3rd Rd pick was put on IR back in mid Oct. so he had little chance to play & they also IRed their 5th Rd. pick Sanders Commings.

KC is a 11-5 & that includes sitting majority of their starters in the last game & still was competitive against a playoff team. Miami is a non-winning team who played all their starters against two other non-playoff teams & lost badly. There is your huge, huge difference.

Kev1321 wrote:

The bottom line is the got coaching and qb improvements..

Is anyone saying different?

I'm really not sure what you are arguing on KC. They are a playoff team, Miami is not. Non playoff teams either have less talent or as with KC last yr under achieving talent.

Wow I can't believe I'm reading this! First of all, the Chiefs were the most over rated team in the NFL this year. I live about 11 minutes in total from the Stadiums in Kansas City. I hear EVERYTHING that goes on with the Chefs. After their "godly" 9-0 start, they lost 3 in a row to decent teams, and everyone panicked. BTW Eric Fisher is not having a good year. Neither is Brandon Albert. Regardless of if they made they playoffs are not, they aren't getting far. They are trash. Even if Albert got selected to the pro bowl, it's a popularity contest! Funny enough I wouldn't find it surprising at all if we got him this off season, and something I wouldn't be mad about, either.

Oh yeah, and when they were 9-0, the total W/L of their opponents was somewhere around 19-42. They continued to lose to Denver twice, San Diego twice, and the Colts. They beat the Eagles before they had the jolt in their butt, and the Cowboys. They got by...barely....against Cleveland, Houston, and Tennessee, Jason Campbell first game starting with CLE, Case Keenum first game starting with HOU and Ryan Fitzpatrick first game starting with TEN.

And as for our draft picks, obviously we drafted them to mold year one. New plays will give this team life. Watch, when we get a new OC, our running backs will all of a sudden get more passes out of the backfield, or we will run more screens. Wallace end around will be present. Hell, anything other than the slant on 3rd and 16!!

Olivier Vernon made it difficult to get Dion Jordan on the field (along with Jordan's offseason surgery etc). Vernon led the team in sacks. You don't sit a guy who is leading your team in sacks.

The rookie corners also dealt with injury/recovery issues as well as players who were performing at a high level ahead of them. Brent Grimes wasn't going to be benched. Dmitri Patterson performed well when healthy. And Nolan Carroll and Jimmy Wilson performed much better than expected (two late round picks made by Ireland that are starting to pan out, by the way).

I think as contracts expire and players retire, you start to see these guys play more.

The one concern I do have is that Dallas Thomas never saw the field considering our terrible offensive line.

That being said, calling this a bad draft purely on the number of snaps they took without looking at the context is misleading.

This Dolphins draft was pitiful in terms of any contribution this year. It's inexcusable.

It's not inexcusable, there are reasons why the rookies didn't see the field as much, primarily that they players ahead of them performed very well, again with the exception of Dallas Thomas.

Maybe the positions addressed didn't make much sense, but no one could have predicted Olivier Vernon breaking out the way he did. We all had a good feeling about Grimes, but the question marks about his Achilles loomed large. Dmitri Patterson was a surprise and most of us thought he would be a cap casualty but he stuck. No one had faith in Carroll or Wilson... both of them improved remarkably.

So it makes sense why the rookie DE and rookie corners sat.

It also makes sense that the GM picks the players and the coaches pick which players get to play... and therefore I consider it the responsibility of the coaches to find snaps for the young guys.

This Dolphins draft was pitiful in terms of any contribution this year. It's inexcusable.

It's not inexcusable, there are reasons why the rookies didn't see the field as much, primarily that they players ahead of them performed very well, again with the exception of Dallas Thomas.

Maybe the positions addressed didn't make much sense, but no one could have predicted Olivier Vernon breaking out the way he did. We all had a good feeling about Grimes, but the question marks about his Achilles loomed large. Dmitri Patterson was a surprise and most of us thought he would be a cap casualty but he stuck. No one had faith in Carroll or Wilson... both of them improved remarkably.

So it makes sense why the rookie DE and rookie corners sat.

It also makes sense that the GM picks the players and the coaches pick which players get to play... and therefore I consider it the responsibility of the coaches to find snaps for the young guys.

OV and Jordan didn't have to play the same position. Both were supposed to be capable of flopping between DE and LB. I keep hearing about Jordan's injury coming in but for cryin' out loud they had him playing special teams where guys are flying around full speed at him.

The Dallas Thomas thing was a huge miss for a huge need.

Gilislee couldn't find some PT between a stable of such juggernauts like Miller and Thomas?

You can give me reasons all you want, but there was little contribution from this class and this was an 8-8 ball club. That is the kind of thing you expect from a team loaded up and making a legitimate Super Bowl run.

At the end of the day, the reasons for the lack of contribution are mixed ..... but it's still a complete lack of contribution nonetheless.

OV and Jordan didn't have to play the same position. Both were supposed to be capable of flopping between DE and LB.

I've never heard anything about Vernon playing LB. I've been watching him since his UM days and he has always been a 4-3 defensive end.

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I keep hearing about Jordan's injury coming in but for cryin' out loud they had him playing special teams where guys are flying around full speed at him.

His injury caused him to miss valuable field time to learn the NFL game.

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You can give me reasons all you want, but there was little contribution from this class and this was an 8-8 ball club. That is the kind of thing you expect from a team loaded up and making a legitimate Super Bowl run.

At the end of the day, the reasons for the lack of contribution are mixed ..... but it's still a complete lack of contribution nonetheless.

I don't believe I am arguing against the point that there was little contribution. Obviously since they had the fewest snaps of a rookie class in the NFL, there is nothing to argue.

But you called it inexcusable, when there are legitimate reasons why things played out the way they did, at least with the DE and the two CBs, which as part of a typical draft, would have been the top players getting snaps.

Obviously, I would have liked to see these guys play more, particularly Jordan who was the third overall guy selected.

However, after taking a step back, at least these guys made the team and they are still here, getting more confident with the system. Its hard because this theory is geared in the future, but I think these players could come into play when other players of ours hit free agency and may demand big money contracts. As a result, we have these drafted players waiting to take the reigns.

Now don't faint, because I'm not implying a direct correlation, but isn't that how teams like the Steelers ran their championship teams? Draft guys who don't necessarily play right away, but when guys like wallace, holmes, etc leave, they have the next guy up who is ready to take over and they fill in nicely. Now as long as you have players who are doing well ahead of them, I have no problem with these guys sitting the bench, but the o-line situation and dallas clark does rub me the wrong way as someone previously posted.Really hope it pans out, but as long as these guys are on the team, I think we can't really tank this draft class just yet.

So either Philbin cant coach them, or Ireland cant pick them.. One thing is for sure, this is a sad statement for a team "building through the draft" as they preach...

Well, Ireland picked Clay, Carroll, Wilson and Vernon and all of those guys seemed to grow leaps and bounds under Philbin.

I am ok with keeping Philbin.. Just want him to have say in the draft room. (edit) and ditch his buddy Sherman..When the FB is forced to play TE because the # 2 and # 3 TE stink its hard to feel good about the guy picking players..

This Dolphins draft was pitiful in terms of any contribution this year. It's inexcusable.

It's not inexcusable, there are reasons why the rookies didn't see the field as much, primarily that they players ahead of them performed very well, again with the exception of Dallas Thomas.

Maybe the positions addressed didn't make much sense, but no one could have predicted Olivier Vernon breaking out the way he did. We all had a good feeling about Grimes, but the question marks about his Achilles loomed large. Dmitri Patterson was a surprise and most of us thought he would be a cap casualty but he stuck. No one had faith in Carroll or Wilson... both of them improved remarkably.

So it makes sense why the rookie DE and rookie corners sat.

It also makes sense that the GM picks the players and the coaches pick which players get to play... and therefore I consider it the responsibility of the coaches to find snaps for the young guys.

The players in front of them performed well? WE WENT 8-8!! Every other team had rookies contribute, we had none. NONE. We needed OL help, Thomas was no where to be found. We needed a blocking TE to help the OL, Simms was no where to be found. Vernon was inconsistent, monster game, then he disappeared. Jordan should have been the DROY where he was drafted. Sorry, some of you are thinking like the Fins, low expectations, loser mentality.

Makchell"]The players in front of them performed well? WE WENT 8-8!! Every other team had rookies contribute, we had none. NONE

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Thats not true...KC was right there with us. They were 2-14 last year

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We needed OL help, Thomas was no where to be found. We needed a blocking TE to help the OL, Simms was no where to be found.

4 (106) - Dion Sims, TE, Michigan State; 5 (164) - Mike Gillislee,

Are you guys really hanging your hat on the team was 8-8 because our 4th and 5th round pick didn't go all pro in their rookie season

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Vernon was inconsistent, monster game, then he disappeared.

Vernon was pretty good every game. He has 10 sacks. Pretty sure he didn't do all that in one game..Better than most players at his position...Really if you are gonna blame someone for team failures you can do better than this.

This list shows little relevance...We had two injuries to corners(2nd 3rd) and it's cherry picking special teams. And one pick was a kicker

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Don Jones made a game-changing play for the Dolphins on Sept. 22 against the Atlanta Falcons. Covering a punt on special teams, Jones forced a fumble when he hit punt returner Harry Douglas in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins, trailing at the time, scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive and went on to win.

All this and the doomsdayers are willing to make excuses for other teams but not the Dolphins.

The coaching and player evaluation sucked...They didn't even know a guy on the practice squad was better than the starter for christ sake.

Jordan played well when he was on the field but they continued not find ways to use him. Who thinks it wasn't the pick to make?